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By Kate McHugh, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women with very low cholesterol levels have an increased risk of delivering their babies prematurely. The same is also true for women with very high cholesterol levels.
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Max Muenke, M.D., from the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues have confirmed previous findings that very high cholesterol (more than 261 mg/dl) is linked to premature birth (delivering a baby before 37 weeks of gestation). However, they have also found surprising evidence linking very low cholesterol (less than 159 mg/dl) in Caucasian mothers to premature delivery.
We were surprised to find that when we compared African-American mothers with low cholesterol with white mothers with low cholesterol, we found premature delivery only in the white mothers and not African-American mothers, Dr. Muenke tells Ivanhoe.
Previous studies show 12 percent of all women with very high cholesterol deliver their babies prematurely. This recent study show a 21-percent incidence of premature birth among white women with very low cholesterol. Dr. Muenke says cholesterol levels also have an impact on birth weight.
When we compared both groups of women who had low maternal cholesterol, for both white and African-American mothers with babies born at term, we found that on average, they weighed 5 ounces less than other babies born to mothers in the normal cholesterol levels, Dr. Muenke tells Ivanhoe.
Dr. Muenke says more research is needed to uncover the mechanism behind these links before clinical recommendations can be made for expectant mothers.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Max Muenke, M.D.; Pediatrics, 2007;120:723-733
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